Arkansas 13th in final Learfield standings

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas fell a few spots from its all-time high finish in the Learfield Director’s Cup by placing 13th in the annual all-sports standings released on Wednesday by the National Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

The Razorbacks had finished eighth and seventh, respectively, the last two years before garnering their third consecutive top 15 finish.

Arkansas totaled 1,031.5 points to rank sixth among SEC programs and first among schools that sponsor 19 or fewer sports.

The Razorbacks won two NCAA titles in the 2022-23 school year, sweeping the men’s and women’s indoor track and field championships for the first time in school history. Arkansas posted 11 top 10 NCAA finishes, won 5 SEC championships, won a bowl game for the second consecutive year and advanced to the Sweet 16 in men’s basketball for the third consecutive year.

“Once again, Razorback student-athletes delivered one of the most successful years in our program’s history,” UA Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek said in a statement. “For the third-consecutive year and only the fourth time since the Directors’ Cup was initiated, Arkansas finished among the top 15 in the nation. That is truly remarkable and even more amazing when you consider we are competing against some programs with more than 30 sports.”

The highest finish prior to the Razorbacks’ three-year streak of top 15 showings was 14th place in 1997-98.

Stanford, which won national titles in men’s gymnastics, women’s rowing and women’s water polo, claimed its 26th Learfield Director’s Cup national title. 

The rest of the top five consisted of Texas, Ohio State, Virginia and Florida.

The SEC led the way with eight programs in the top 25, with No. 6 Tennessee, No. 7 Georgia, No. 9 LSU, No. 12 Alabama, No. 18 Kentucky and No. 24 Texas A&M joining Arkansas and Florida.

The standings concluded with the awarding of points based on springs sports, where Arkansas tallied 90 points for its second-place finish in men’s outdoor track and field, 85 points for finishing third in women’s outdoor track and field, 56 points for finishing 18th in men’s golf, 50 points for qualifying for the regionals in both baseball and softball, 40.5 points for a regional finish in women’s golf, and 25 points for qualifying for the NCAAs in women’s tennis.

The cup, which has been tracking overall standings since the 1993-93 school year, is a collaboration between NACDA and USA Today. The standings are determined by scoring in 19 sports, four of which must be women’s volleyball and basketball and men’s basketball and baseball. The next highest 15 sports for every school, regardless of gender, are used to compute the standings.